Means for packing tin and like plates and inner container therefor



July 3, 1934. N. BISHOP ET AL MEANS FOR PACKING TIN AND LIKE PLATES AND INNER CONTAINER THEREFOR 5 sheets-sheet 1 /a/ Filed oct. 22. 1952 2 f s sheets-sheet 2 July 3, 1934. N. Bisi-IOP ET AL MEANS FOR PACKING TIN AND LIKE PLATES AND INNER CONTAINER THEREFOR Filed oct. 22, 1952 a 9 M L l: m .WNUIIHHIMHMHHHHUM .www MNHN@ W o 1UP/N f y .0, f4

July 3, 1934- N. BISHOP ET Al. .1,965,214

MEANS FOR PACKING TIN AND LIKE PLATES AND INNER CONTAINER THEREFOR Filed OCb. 22, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 F16. 8 I F1@ 9 Norman hop Patented July 3, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OP'FC MEANS FOR PACKING TIN AND LIKE PLATES AND INNER CONTAINER THERE- FOR Application October 22,

1932, Serial No. 639,088

In Great Britain October 30, 1931 13 Claims.

the like is dependent upon how tightly the tin plates are packed. It is also known that tin plates, when lying nat, have a slight set or buckle amounting in some cases in a box of 124 tin plates to as much as 3/8". Metal cases hitherto used for the packing of tin plates, have usually been made with a suiiicient depth to accommodate the plates in their set or buckled condition.

According to the present invention the plates are flattened under pressure to remove the set or buckle. In one way of carrying out the invention the tin plates are arranged or stacked in shallow box-like inner containers preferably having stii sides, the depth of each container being preferably the same as the thickness of a stack 0 when ilattened. The lid of the container is then partially closed (complete closing being prevented by the buckle of the plates). The inner container is now passed through a press which flattens the stack and closes the lid and is then inserted into an outer casing which is located close to the press, the said inner container forming a protective lining between tin plates and the outer casing.

The outer case may be and preferably is of the kind described in United States Patent No. 1,730,070 oi 1st October, 1929.

Among the advantages to be gained by compressing the tin plates whilst in the papier mache container and automatically inserting the plates, together with the papier mch container, into the metal box, are the following:-

Any partial collapsing of the lled case due to compression is eliminated, since the metal case is made smaller to accommodate the compressed plates and form a tight and compact package.

The speed of packing is greatly increased with less labour (estimated speed of packing is one complete box every 12 seconds).

The number of times the tin plates are handled is cut down, the plates being handled only once, that is, from inspection bench straight into the papier mache container.

The insertion of tin plates and papier mch lining en bloc into the metal case entirely overcomes any chaiing of the papier mache which would occur in the case where the plates are inserted into a papier mch lined metal case. This chang raises ui which is deposited on the tin plates and is detrimental to the working of the latter.

An inner container suitable for use in carrying out the present invention and adapted to conform to the dimensions oi the flattened plates without substantially increasing the overall size of the package and which shall at the same time be collapsible for storage and transport purposes when empty, is illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 being a plan view of the container in the collapsed or unfolded form, Figure 2 being an isometric View of the folded container and Figure 3 a section. Figure 4 is a side elevation of machine suitable for packing the tin plates, Figure 5 is a plan view thereof and Figure 6 is an 'end elevation. Figure 7 is a sectional View of an alternate container for tin plates. Figure 8 is an elevation of clamping levers 36 of the machine at rest. Figure 9 is an elevation of clamping levers 36 of the machine in operating position. Figure 10 is a plan view showing detail oi ram 5 of the machine. Figure 11 is an elevation of cams 13 and 30 showing clutch arrangement. Referring to Figure 2 the container comprises relatively thick ends c and ai and sides b and b1, which may consist for example of plywood, wood or wood pulp, preferably about IAL Y thick said ends and sides being attached (e. g. stitched or glued) to a bottom portion'C of papier mache or the like having the relative positions shown in Figure 1. The inner container is folded along the dotted lines in Figure 1 to form a tray-like structure having side flaps d and di end flap e and top cover f, adapted when folded entirely to cover the tin plates. It will be seen that the thick sides and ends are attached to the papierV mache in such a way that when the container is folded the papier mch forms a complete covering for the tin plates, and the thick plywood ends and sides which are on the outside of the container do not come into contact with the tin plates, thereby preventing the setting up of rust, should the wood be at all damp. Another advantage of assembling the wood strips on the outside of the container, and allowing the papiermache' to form a cornplete covering, is to prevent the tin plates, when packed loosely into the container without having been compressed, from resting on the thick sides and edges, thereby causing bending of the plates on compression. This feature is clearly shown in the sectional View in Figure 3.

The ends a and a1 are made equal in length to the overall width of the container and sides b and b1 are made to butt against the inside of ends a and a1 in order that sides b and bi may take the thrust whenv the inner container and tinl plates are forced into the outer case in a manner to be described later. The end flap e is provided for other reasons, which will be described in the operation of the packing machine.

The tin plates together with the inner container above described can bereadily packed into an outer metal case of the type described in United States Patent 1,730,070, by means of the machine diagrammatically illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings. Referring to these figures:

The machine is provided with a plurality of parallel rollers 1, rotatably mounted between outside frame members 2 and inside members 3, so as to form a bed on which rests the bottom of the inner container. The outside members 2 are extended upwardly to form the supporting sides for the inner container. A movable abutment or back stop 4 and a ram 5 are provided to form respectively the back and front supports for the ends of the inner container. It will be seen therefore that when the machine is in its normal position (i. e. the position shown in the drawings) a tray-likeformation is provided for the folded papier mch container which is placed in position therein. The outer tubular container is held in position to receive a fully loaded compressed inner container (which is discharged through rollers 6 and 7) by means of a tiltable table 8, pivoted about a horizontal axis at 9, said table being tilted by a link 10 attached to a lever 11 pivoted at 12 and a cam 13.

Upstanding supporting members 14 and 15 are provided in which is mounted horizontally and rotatably a roller 6, the distance between the peripheries of rollers 6 and 7 being equal to the depth Vof the inner container. The roller 6, however, may be provided with eccentric bearing bushes housed in the members 14 and 15, to allow of adjustment of the distance between the rollers 6 and 7 for varying depths of containers. Coaxially mounted and free to swing on the spindle 16 of roller 6 are arms 17 adapted to carry horizontally mounted and free to rotate there-between a large and weighted roller 19. Coaxially mounted and free toi swing about spindles 16 and 22 are locating or guiding members 20 and 21, so arranged that they may move substantially tangentially to the peripheries of rollers 6 and 7 respectively. This freedom of movement is pro- Ivided in order to enable the loaded outer tubular container, the mouth of which is located over the parts 20 and 21 when the inner container is being forced therein to swing clear, when the tilting table 8 operates. y i Y Movable guides 23 are provided to facilitate the loading of the tin plates into the papier mch container. These guides are linked together by means of link 24 and are rotatably mounted on a spindle 25, and are rotated free of the papier mch container when the machine is ready for operation. The remaining parts `of the machine will now be described in terms of the operation of the machine as a whole.

, When the tin plates have been loaded papier mch container a lever 26 is pulled,` allowingthe engagement of a suitable clutch 44 which is mounted on shaft 27 asshown in Figure 11. The engagement of this clutch causes two cams 30 and 13 to rotate together with the shaft 27. A lever 28 pivoted at 29, having a roller 29 adapted to engage the cam 30 is moved thereby, thus lowering the back stop 4, below the level of the machine bed. This action takes place before the ram 5 commences `to move forward under the action of an adjustable link 31, which is pivoted to the ram 5 at 32, and to a rocking lever 33 at 42, the rocking lever 33 being pivoted at the base of the machine at 12. A roller 34 housedin the rocking lever 33 is attached to a connecting link35, which in turn is attached to a stud 43, which forms a crank pin on the cam 13, thus allowing the ram to move forward ina horizontal plane forcing the papier mch container with itslfull complement of tin plates, into a metal tubular container which is placed on the tilting table 8, with its open end located over members 20 and 21. On the first movement of the ram two back clamping levers 36 and 37 (Figure 5) close down on the` back end of the papier mache container'compressing the tin plates down within the container, at the same time folding the flap e into the container, thus preventing any movement ofthe tin plates backward, whilstbeing forced under the weighted roller 19 and through the set gap between the rollers 6 and`7. Referring to Figures 8, 9 and.10,3the clamping effectof `the backclamping levers is, brought about Yas follows. Levers36 tand V37V arepvoted intermediate `,the ends thereof to the ram `5 as indicated at'` 38, the extended rear portionsof levers 36 and 37, are provided with rollers 39 which engage a roller pathor` groove cut into the inside membersnt".V

On the firstmovement oftheram the rollers 39 attached to levers 36 and 37 are forcednp4 an inclined portion 45 of said groove `thus'icausing the clamping portion ofthe levers 36 and 37 to compress and hold the back end of the tinplates during substantially full traverse of the ramA 5, whilst thesaidram is pushing the loaded inner container into its tubular metal case. When the ram has completed -its stroke andthe :inner container is home inthe tubular, case the rollers 39 of levers 36 and 37 engage another inclined portion of the groove cut into the sidemembers 3, the levers thus releasing :their grip on the tin plates, ready for` the, return Yof the Vram to its normal position, which is brought about by.` the further rotation of cam 13, whichalso ,operates the tilting table 8, by means of thelever. 11 and link 10, allowing the table to come into a'vertical position to discharge the full tubular container with its contents downthe gravity rollers provided. Further rotation of shaft 2 7, together with cams 30 and 13 causes the ram 5, the rbackstop 4 and the tilting` table 8 l to resume their normal positions, whereupon clutch automatically disengages the shaft 27 from the cams 30 andl. Y i

It should be noted that thecornpression of the plates into the innercontainer is effected as folv lows.

Firstly `the back endsy of the `plates are compressed and clampedby means of the levers 36 and 37 as described above. Then as the ram` moves forward the front `portion `of the papier mach` container passes under Vthe weighted roller 19, which partially compresses the plates. Further compression is obtained by virtueof the ram 5 forcing the container, together with the tin press which compresses the plates down within the papier mache container. Before the press is released the lid is sealed for example by means of seaming tools as described in United States Patent No. 1,730,070.

What we claim isz- 1. A method of packing tin plates wherein a stack of tin plates is lirst placed in an inner container whose internal dimensions are substantially equal to the overall dimensions of the stack of plates when lflattened, the lid of the container being closed as far as the buckle or set of the plates will permit, the stack then being flattened and the lid closed by compression, and the inner container forced into a tubular outer container.

2. A method of packing tin plates which consists in stacking the plates in a shallow box-like inner container located within a metal outer container and the depth of said inner container being substantially equal to the thickness of a stack of plates when flattened, partially closing the lid ofrsaid inner container, placing in position the lid of the outer container and applying pressure to the latter to flatten the stack and sealing down the lid of the outer container.

3. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a frame, a pair of rollers mounted in said frame, said rollers being substantially parallel one to the other and spaced apart a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers and means for propelling an inner container iilled with tin plates through said gap into said outer container.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which the gap between the rollers is adjustable.

5. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a frame, a pair of rollers mounted in said frame, said rollers being substantially parallel one to the other and spaced apart a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers, means for propelling an inner container lled with tin plates through said gap into said outer container and means for applying an initial pressure to the inner container and plates thereon before said container is propelled through the gap between the rollers.`

6. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a frame, a pair of rollers mounted in said frame, said rollers being substantially parallel one to the other and spaced apart a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers and a ram, which engages the front edge of an inner container, lled with tin plates, for propelling said container through said gap into said outer container.

'7. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a frame, a pair of rollers mounted in said frame, said rollers being substantially parallel one to the other and spaced apart a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers, means for propelling an inner container i-llled with tin plates through said gap into said outer container and means for clamping the iront edge of the container during the movement thereof.

8. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a frame, a pair of rollers mounted in said frame, said rollers being substantially parallel one to the other and spaced apart a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers, a ram, which engages the front edge of an inner container filled with tin plates, for propelling said container through said gap into said outer container, a clamping lever or levers pivoted to the ram and fixed cam means adapted to engage said lever or levers to cause the latter to clamp the inner container at or near the commencement of stroke of the ram and to release said inner container at or near the end of the stroke of the ram.

9. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a frame, a pair of rollers mounted in said frame, said rollers being substantially parallel one to the other and spaced apart a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers, a ram for propelling an inner container filled with tin plates through said gap into said outer container, stop means adapted to locate the inner container on the bed of the machine while being filled with tin plates and means for automatically removing said stop means from the path of the container at or before the commencement of the stroke of the ram.

10. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a frame, a pair of rollers mounted in said frame, said rollers being substantially parallel one to the other and spaced apart a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers, a ram for propelling an inner container filled with tiri plates into said outer container and means for automatically discharging a iilled outer container from the machine.

l1. A machine as claimed in claim 10 in which the means for automatically discharging a filled outer container comprise a tiltable platform normally lying substantially in the plane of the bed of the machine and adapted to carry a tubular outer container while the latter is being filled and means actuated upon the completion of the stroke of the ram for tilting said platform into a substantially vertical position.

l2. A machine for packing tin plates comprising a pair of substantially parallel rollers spaced apart by a predetermined amount, means for locating the open end of a tubular outer container opposite the gap between said rollers, a ram for propelling an inner container filled with tin plates through said gap into said outer container, stop means adapted to locate the inner container on the bed of the machine and being automatically removed from the path or the container at or before the commencement of the stroke of the ram, and a tiltable platform carrying a tubular outer container while the latter is being lled and being tilted into a substantially vertical position upon the completion of the stroke of the ram, the ram, stop means and tilting platform being actuated in sequence from a common camshaft.

13. A machine as claimed in claim 12 and comprising a control lever, a clutch adapted to engage the cam shaft with a continuously rotating driving shaft upon actuation of said control lever, said clutch being adapted to be automatically disengaged upon completion of a cycle of operations.

NORMAN BISHOP. ERNEST R. GARROD. 

